thumb|Bridgton & Harrison Railway (formerly Bridgton & Saco River Railroad) fan trip departing Bridgton Jct. on June 27th, 1937.
The Bridgton and Saco River Railroad (B&SR) was a narrow gauge railroad that operated in the vicinity of Bridgton and Harrison, Maine. It connected with the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad (later Maine Central Railroad Mountain Division) from Portland, Maine, to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, near the town of Hiram on the Saco River.
History
thumb|left|Map of the Bridgton & Saco River Railroad from 1898 to 1930.
B&SR design was based on experience of the Sandy River Railroad. Hinkley Locomotive Works modified their gauge Forney design to run boiler first with an extended frame similar to that installed on Sandy River Railroad #1 following a wreck in early 1882. The successful design of the Bridgton Hinkleys was subsequently repeated for the Monson Railroad and the Franklin and Megantic Railway. Construction began in 1882, and trains were running to Bridgton by early 1883.
B&SR used early profits to replace wooden trestles with earthen fills. A granite masonry arch was constructed over Hancock Brook in 1895. Track was extended to Harrison with steel rails in 1898. Trestles on the Harrison extension had been replaced by earthen fills and plate girder bridges by 1906. Original Hinkley locomotives #1-2 were replaced by #5-6 of an improved design with pilot wheels. B&SR then replaced the original steel rails from Bridgton Junction to Bridgton with and steel rails from 1907 to 1910 before Maine Central Railroad secured control of the B&SR in 1912.
Under Maine Central operation, there were 4 mixed train round trips daily from Harrison to Bridgton Junction and return. The first left Harrison at 5:15 am and the last returned to Harrison at 8:45 pm. Train speed seldom exceeded . Two passenger train sets were required for this service. The first consisted of baggage #10, RPO #25, and one or two coaches. A couple of bench seats at one end of baggage-RPO #11 provided smoking accommodation for the second train set. Freight traffic in 1913 was 18% outbound lumber, 15% outbound pulpwood, 15% inbound coal, 11% outbound apples and canned corn, 11% manufactured goods, 10% feed & grain, 10% express, and 2% inbound petroleum products. Locomotive #8 was the last locomotive built for the Maine gauge railways.
Bond interest went unpaid in 1926, and the town of Bridgton began a 15-year effort to preserve their railroad. The B&SR was reorganized as the Bridgton and Harrison Railway; but the extension to Harrison was dismantled after locomotive #8 tipped over when the 35 lb/yd rails sagged in 1930. Locomotive #8 was the heaviest locomotive on any gauge railway in Maine. B&SR became a tourist attraction as the last gauge railroad offering passenger service in the late 1930s. Operation ceased in September 1941. The rolling stock was preserved when the rails were converted to scrap metal as the United States prepared for World War II. The rolling stock was moved to Massachusetts for another half-century of operation on the Edaville Railroad after the war. Subsequent to the restructuring of the Edaville Railroad, the historic Bridgton and Saco narrow gauge equipment returned to the state of Maine and are mostly located at the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum in Portland.
There are still signs of the B&SR evident in a few places if one searches carefully for them. Members of the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum have organized informal tours in the past several years to explore these remains. A new group, the Bridgton & Saco River Railroad Museum, was established in 2020 and have plans to build a new railyard in Bridgton for a museum and possible tourist railroad on the original right of way between Sandy Creek and Perleys Mills. More info can be found about this new revival of the Bridgton & Saco River on their website at Bridgtonrailroad.org.